Upper Darby High School considering contingency plans for graduation ceremony

UPPER DARBY — Upper Darby School District officials will announce today where the commencement ceremony for the Upper Darby High School 2014 graduates will be held.

High School Principal Edward Roth announced Tuesday at the school board meeting officials are waiting for the latest weather report before changing the site from the high school stadium to the Tower Theater, 69th and Ludlow streets.

“We do have our eye on the weather and continue to monitor forecasts,” Roth said. “We will meet during the day and decide Thursday.”

Roth cautioned the decision will not only be on the weather forecast for Friday but also on any rainfall Wednesday and Thursday affecting the condition of the grassy athletic field.

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In previous years the entire class sits on folding chairs on the football field and parents, friends and relatives fill the bleachers.

Last year was the first year Upper Darby High commencement ceremony returned to the Memorial Field after an estimated 10 years at Villanova University’s Pavilion, in Radnor. Prior to opting for Villanova graduations were held outdoors on Memorial Field. In the event of rain, and there were a few, the ceremony was moved into the Performing Arts Center (PAC) and simulcast on closed circuit TV into classrooms for the overflow crowd.

According to Manager of Media Services Dana Spino, cost was one of the contributing factors on returning to the high school.

The school district paid $12,000 two years ago for use of The Pavilion. The Tower fee is $1,000.

“It had more to do with availability than it did about cost,” Spino said. “Of course it is a cost saving.”

District Superintendent Richard Dunlap Jr. met with senior class officers at the beginning of the school year after they expressed a concern about moving inside in the event of rain.

“They didn’t like the contingency plan of the PAC and closed circuit and this is the result,” Spino said. “The class officers, high school and district administrators met and created this plan.”

Dunlap will alert parents of the 800-plus students through a global connect this afternoon.

If changed the students will be bused from school to the Tower and parents will be advised to take public transportation.

Each student received two purple guest tickets, for Memorial Field admission, and two gold guest tickets, for the Tower, if there was a change.

“Parents were told early on if they requested more tickets before May 22 they could get two more of the purple tickets,” Spino said.

The Tower can seat close to 2,000 students and guests with an additional 60 standing-room-only areas.